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This article reports on the identification of a group 2 coronavirus (BatCoV DR/2007) in a Desmodus rotundus vampire bat in Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis of ORF1b revealed that BatCoV DR/2007 originates from a unique lineage in the archetypical group 2 coronaviruses, as described for bat species elsewhere with putative importance in Public Health.

The patch-clamp technique was used to examine the tolbutamide-sensitivity of the adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-dependent K+ channel in mouse pancreatic B-cells. When studied at 37 degrees C in cell-attached membrane patches, this channel had a single-channel conductance of 88 pS and was half-maximally inhibited by 2.2 mumol/l tolbutamide in the presence of 3 mmol/l D-glucose and 10 mumol/l nifedipine. The tolbutamide-induced decrease in the amplitude of the single-channel currents indicated that the membrane potential was sufficiently depolarized for initiation of insulin release by 30 but not by 10 mumol/l of tolbutamide. Using 300 mumol/l diazoxide to open the ATP-dependent K+ channels already closed by 3 mmol/l D-glucose alone, it was demonstrated that initiation of insulin release requires closure of more than 98% of all ATP-dependent K+ channels. In excised inside-out membrane patches, the K+ channel-blocking potency of tolbutamide was maximally enhanced by 0.3 mmol/l adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) at the cytoplasmic side. This ADP effect required the presence of Mg2+. Inhibition of K+ channel activity by ATP, ADP (Mg2(+)-free) or their non-hydrolyzable analogues adenylyl-imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) and alpha, beta methylene adenosine 5'-diphosphate (AMP-CP) was not accompanied by enhancement of tolbutamide-sensitivity. The results suggest that cytosolic MgADP controls tolbutamide-sensitivity by interaction with a receptor site not identical with the site mediating channel closure and that this control plays a role in the intact B-cell.

BackgroundBats have been implicated as the main reservoir of coronavirus (CoV). Thus the role of these hosts on the evolution and spread of CoVs currently deserve the attention of emerging diseases surveillance programs. On the view of the interest on and importance of CoVs in bats the occurrence and molecular characterization of CoV were conducted in bats from Brazil.FindingsThree hundred five enteric contents of 29 bat species were tested using a panCoV nested RT-PCR. Nine specimens were positive and eight was suitable for RdRp gene sequencing. RdRp gene phylogeny showed that all CoVs strains from this study cluster in Alphacoronavirus genus, with one Molossidae and one Phlyllostomidae-CoV specific groups. Phylogenetic analyses of two S gene sequences showed a large diversity within the Alphacoronavirus genus.ConclusionsThis study indicated a CoV-to-host specificity and draws attention for CoV detection in Cynomops sp, a potential new reservoir. The phylogenetic analyses indicate that diversity of CoV in bats is higher than previously known.

Rabies virus is a pathogen of major concern in free-ranging wild carnivores in several regions of the world, but little is known about its circulation in Brazilian wild carnivores. Sera from 211 free-ranging wild carnivores, captured from 2000 to 2006 in four locations of two Brazilian biomes (Pantanal and Cerrado), were tested for rabies antibodies. Twenty-six individuals (12.3%) had neutralizing antibody titers ≥0.10 IU/ml. The four sampled locations had antibody-positive animals, suggesting that Rabies virus circulates in all of these regions. Results underscore the risk posed by rabies for conservation of Brazilian carnivores and the possibility of the animals acting as reservoirs for the Rabies virus.